SLU Seeks Volunteers To Test Bird Flu Vaccination

Five separate outbreaks of H7N9 avian influenza have surfaced over the past six years, sickening more than 1,500 people. SLU researchers are now working to test a new vaccination against the virus.

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Researchers at St. Louis University are recruiting volunteers to test a new vaccination for avian influenza.

The vaccination targets the H7N9 strain, which has caused at least 600 deaths since it first surfaced in China in 2013. The National Institutes of Health has identified the strain as one that could cause a global pandemic and is now preparing for an outbreak before it happens.

Five separate outbreaks of H7N9 avian influenza have surfaced over the past six years, sickening more than 1,500 people.

Nearly 40 percent of patients have died.

According to the World Health Organization, all reported cases have occurred in China or involved people who had recently traveled there.

The fear is that this strain may mutate enough that it could be transmitted from human to human. (Sharon Frey, SLU)